Love is a many Splendored Thing
by Vampire Daisuke
Summary: They say a picture is worth a thousand words, then how many words is a song worth? READ INSIDE! REVIEW PLEASE! Love, Friendship and Drama. Main: Trent, Gwen, Courtney and Duncan.


**Love is a many Splendored Thing:**

After the World Tour season, everyone was invited to party courtesy of Chris. He actually wanted them to see the footage he dug up in World Tour and Aftermath just to tick them off.

The party was in the aftermath studio, much to their dismay and to Chris's delight. Everyone made themselves comfortable in their specified rooms.

Gwen wanted to take a walk and all she could see were glares from some of the old contestants. She sighed at the harshness they've been giving and went to through an empty hall. She let out some tears of hurt when she saw that the contestants really hate her guts, especially after hooking up with Duncan in such a shameless manner.

"_I didn't do anything wrong!... I didn't!" _Gwen yelled in her head, trying to convince herself that she was innocent. She then walked further into the hall and then heard some faint music and the sound of someone singing.

_I just came to talk for a while  
I got some things I need to say  
Now that it's over  
I just wanna hold her  
I'd give up all the world to see  
That little piece of heaven looking back at me_

The voice was very familiar and very beautiful, she had to admit. Then she saw a door opened with the music coming from it. She looked inside seeing... Trent singing a very beautiful, romantic song on his guitar and Cody was playing the piano, backing him up.

_Now that it's over  
I just wanna hold her  
I've gotta live with the choices I made  
And I can't live with myself today!_

Gwen sighed and pressed her back on the wall next to the wall, enjoying the beautiful music her ex-boyfriend and her friend made, but it wasn't long till they stopped.

"Do you think she'll like it?" Gwen heard Trent ask Cody, and peeked her head to see the two were chatting.

"She'll love it, Trent. Trust me. She'll be fawning all over you like before." Cody said assuring his musician friend.

"Good! I really need everything to be good today. It's a really special day for her. I really miss "Us". She and I." Trent said lovingly as he stared into open space.

Gwen's eyes bulged when she heard Trent's comment. Did he miss her? He wrote a song for her so he could get her back?

"Don't worry everything is gonna fall into place. She's gonna come back to you and accept you, like before." Cody said in assurance.

"I will perform the song tonight on the set. Harold said that he'll take care of the special effects." Trent said putting his guitar away in its case.

Gwen's eyes widened once again. He's gonna perform his song tonight for her! She can't let that happen! She was with Duncan and Trent had to accept it no matter what! She then noticed that Trent and Cody were making their way towards the door.

Thinking fast, the goth girl ran and hid behind a wall. She peeked her head to see what the two were up to.

Cody and Trent waved goodbye ,then the two made their way to their rooms.

Gwen was very anxious and doubtful of what to do. She liked Trent, but not the way he wanted. Did she? She was happy with Duncan. Was she?

She knew one thing though. She had to stop Trent from singing the song to her. If she won't stop him, then he'll just embarrass himself and may even leave him heartbroken.

**With Duncan:**

Duncan also took a walk around the studio. He actually wanted to clear his mind, but then he saw a bouquet of beautiful purple roses at someone's door.

*Click.*

The door suddenly opened to reveal...

"_Courtney!?" _he thought a little surprised by the encounter. Courtney didn't notice him, she was too fixated with the pretty roses at her door. She then took out a card from inside the bouquet.

"To Courtney. My Forever Love." Courtney read the card and sighed lovingly, resting the card on her chest while looking up dreamily then went inside her room carrying the roses with her.

Courtney shared a room with Bridgette. Even after the island, Bridgette and Courtney were good friends.

Duncan pressed his ear on the door to listen to the girls' conversation.

The Hispanic girl was actually upset about something, especially when she knew who sent the roses.

Bridgette noticed her friend's mood and went over to her, sitting on the bed next to her.

"You should try and give him a chance." Bridgette said, putting a comforting hand on the tanned girl's shoulder.

"I know... but what happened last time was unforgiveable." Courtney said holding back the tears.

"I know it is, but it was just a kiss." The surfer girl said.

"He knows that heartache happened to me before!" Courtney retaliated. "I don't want to go back to a relationship of lies and cheats."

"At least he had the decency to apologize... and he brought you these beautiful roses." The blonde girl said, pointing at the purple roses.

"_Are they talking about me? I didn't get her no flowers! There's a guy that cheated on Courtney before me!? That bastard's gonna pay!" _Duncan thought with some sadness ,anger, guilt and anxiety. Anxious because Courtney thought that he got her some roses so they could get back together! Angry and guilty because a guy cheated on Courtney and he never knew that. He would've broken up with her if he knew that. Would he? And sadness because his ex-girlfriend has someone who cheated and now crying over it, which made him just as sad plus she had someone who seemed to be better than him. He got her expensive roses and she seemed so happy about it.

"_I should tell her that I didn't get her the roses."_ Duncan thought.

**With Gwen:**

The pale goth went over to Trent's room and knocked on his door.

*Knock**Knock*

The black haired musician heard the door knocks and went over to open it.

*Click*

"Gwen!" Trent almost yelled in surprise when he saw goth ex-girlfriend outside his room.

"Umm.. Hey Trent." Gwen said nervously trying to find the right words to tell Trent about his song and his performance for tonight without hurting his feelings.

"Trent you understand that we're friends. Right?" Gwen asked with insecurity making Trent look at her with wide eyes. He seemed to be clueless about what Gwen's going at.

"Y..y...Yeah..." the guitar player said and has no idea what Gwen wants.

"And you know sometimes when you miss someone and you want to be with them. But you can't because they have their own lives to think about and that special somebody they love and it's not you." Gwen tried hard to explain, but it was difficult. Her heart was racing as she talked to her ex-boyfriend and put a hand on his shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" Trent asked raising an eyebrow. He truly didn't understand what Gwen was explaining.

The goth girl looked at him with some confusion in her features, but decided to continue.

"I'm talking about the song, Trent. I know you still like me and I do too, but I have a boyfriend and I can't leave him. I hope you understand why we can't be together." She said smiling a little, hoping he'd understand.

Realization hit Trent like a ton of bricks! Gwen thinks the song was for her! How dare she assume that everything that Trent does is for her!? That thought made Trent furrow his eyebrows and looked at the girl with such contempt!

"I can't do this anymore!" Trent yelled, making Gwen back away a little. "NOW you like me!" he yelled again in anger! "Gwen, I was in love with you! WAS! But I'm done with you! I have someone else! Someone who loves me and I love her back! I can trust her with anything!" the musician yelled.

Gwen was shocked to see Trent like this! He never raised his voice at anyone no matter who he/she is! Then her thoughts reverted back to the song. The song wasn't meant for her!

"Then that song wasn't for me!?" Gwen asked in shock.

"DUH! We broke up! And you seemed to be okay with it!" Trent said a little sad and angered at the same time.

"Then who's it for!?" the goth asked again.

"You'll have to wait till tonight." Trent said lowering his voice and turned back to his room, closing the door on his ex-girlfriend's face.

Gwen rubbed her arm and was almost in tears. Why would she cry? She should be happy that Trent found someone else. Someone who loves him and treats him well. But why did Cody say "She's gonna come back to you and accept you, like before". Did Trent have a girlfriend that recently dumped him. He never said anything to her about that.

**With Duncan: **

Like Gwen ,who was trying to make amends with Trent, Duncan was trying with Courtney. But it was hard since Courtney never left her room and she was still with Bridgette. He needed to talk to her alone.

Then the punk heard the door open and saw Bridgette coming out of the room. Then suddenly Cody came by and saw Bridgette.

"So everything is planned for tonight?" Bridgette asked the brunette nerd.

"Sure. Just make sure to bring Courtney over to the set... I just hope she listens to him. You know how stubborn she can be." Cody said a little enthusiastic.

Duncan was suspicious of the blonde girl and the brunette boy. Why would they bring Courtney to the set? Was there something no one told him about? The questions were gnawing at his very! He needed to know!

As soon as Bridgette and Cody left, Duncan went over to see Courtney was on the bed looking inside an album she had. She was taking out some pictures she had.

*RIP!*

The Hispanic girl ripped half or the whole pictures and threw them in the trash. Then took out a recently taken photo and smiled...

"I hope we stay together too." Courtney whispered while smiling as she put the photo in the album.

Duncan heard the girl's comment. Who was she talking about!?

Courtney then got up and made her way to the door, which the delinquent noticed and ran off behind a wall then peeked his head to see where Courtney was going. The punk went inside her room and saw the trashcan filled with ripped photos, but the thing that he noticed that almost all the photos were of him!

"I can't believe she has all these photos of me." Duncan said to himself.

"What are you doing here!?" A feminine voice said from behind him and turned around to see...

"Hey Bridgette!" Duncan said cockily, but the surfer chick had a serious look on her face. She and Cody came back to the room to see how Courtney's doing.

"What are you doing here?" She asked once again.

"What!? Can't a guy come in and see his girl?" the punk said cockily again.

"Ex-girlfriend to be exact!" Bridgette defended. "Now tell me what do you want!" the surfer girl said once again.

"I just wanted see the loser who'd date princess." Duncan cockily and rudely said.

*BONK!*

"OWW!" Duncan yelled as something hard hit his head and turned around to see Bridgette looking surprised while Cody had a look of anger plastered on his face!

"LOSER! ...Just because you don't love her doesn't mean she can't love!" Cody yelled at the delinquent!

"You're right! She's too pathetic to fall in love with someone else! So she tries to make me jealous by dating some loser!" Duncan retaliated pushing their buttons!

Bridgette's stare hardened and looked terribly angry at the green haired punk's comment!

"YOU HEARTLESS JERK!" Bridgette yelled making Duncan a little frightened by her sudden outburst! "Do you have any idea how many times she has actually cried over you!? If it wasn't for that LOSER she's dating she would've killed herself!"

Duncan's eyes bulged! _"She tried to kill herself!?" _the punk thought a little guilty about what he just said about Courtney.

"Courtney deserves to be happy!" the surfer girl yelled once again!

Duncan was at loss. He didn't know what to say anymore. There was a long pause with Duncan just looking down at the trashcan filled with old photos of him and Courtney.

"_I remember that time." _Duncan said, smiling as he remembered the wonderful memories he and Courtney had, but now she has someone else. Someone who's probably better than him which caused a lot of heartache and his stomach began to churn. _"Is this how Courtney felt when I cheated on her." _He turned around to face Bridgette and Cody.

"Who's she dating?" he asked quietly. Bridgette and Cody looked at each other and...

"You'll have to wait till tonight." Both said in unison, which caused Duncan to groan.

**At Night:**

All the former contestants, minus Courtney, Gwen and Duncan, were at the set. Everyone except those three knew what it was about. Bridgette almost forgot to bring Courtney to the set!

"I'll go get Courtney!" Bridgette said hastily to Cody ,who's on the piano, and ran to her and Courtney's room.

Gwen arrived and sat on the front row to Trent's performance. She loved his songs, but she couldn't help but to feel embarrassed from the situation that occurred earlier.

Duncan came and sat next to his girlfriend. He was kinda sorrowful about what happened today. He should be happy for Courtney. She had found someone and now she might even forgive him and Gwen for what happened.

The Goth and the Punk looked at each other and both had sadness on their feature.

"What's wrong with you?" Both asked dully in unison, but none of them answered the other.

"Come on, Court!" Bridgette said happily, pushing her friend to the front row.

"Why do I have to come to the front center?" Courtney asked smiling at her friend to she saw that the front center row had Duncan and Gwen sitting.

"I'll just go to the back row." Courtney said and tried to go, but was stopped by Bridgette.

"NO! You stay here! And you don't do or say anything!" she then yelled at Duncan, who's eyes widened at the girl's demand.

The stage became dark and a spotlight opened to reveal Trent on the stage with his guitar.

"I'd like to dedicate this song to someone I admire here. She's like no other girl I've met. We kinda broke up some time ago because of a stupid mistake I made. I knew she wouldn't listen to what I have to say so I'll sing it instead." Trent announced, looking directly at someone on the front row, and Gwen swore that he was eyeing her!

Cody began a piano solo then Trent grabbed the microphone and began singing.

_**Hey Courtney, I remember your name  
I left a dozen roses on your door today  
I'm in the grass on my knees, wipe the dry leaves away  
I just came to talk for a while  
I got some things I need to say**_

A spotlight hit Courtney as she looked at her alleged boyfriend. Both Gwen and Duncan's eyes bulged at what they just heard! Their exes were dating each other! When did that happen!?

Trent went over to Courtney still singing.

_**Now that it's over  
I just wanna hold her  
I'd give up all the world to see  
That little piece of heaven looking back at me  
Now that it's over  
I just wanna hold her  
I've gotta live with the choices I made  
And I can't live with myself today**_

Courtney was touched by Trent's words. She was both smiling and had tears forming in her eyes.

Gwen was entranced by the song. She loved the song and it reminded her how she missed Trent's singing voice and his songs.

Duncan was also entranced by the song. The song somehow reminded him on how he viewed Courtney before their break up.

_**Hey Courtney, I remembered your birthday **_Suddenly a banner saying "Happy Birthday Courtney" appeared, which caused Courtney's smile to widen.

_**They said it'd bring some closure to say your name  
I know I'd do it all different if I had the chance  
But all I got are these roses to give  
And they can't help me make amends **_

Trent came closer to Courtney and presented her with a much more beautiful bouquet of roses than the one he gave her earlier. It took Courtney's willpower not leap onto Trent and kiss him vigorously for all this.

Gwen looked at the two and saw how much they loved each other. This caused her a lot of heartache as she got and slowly made it out of the stage. She still was willing t hear Trent's song so she put her back on the wall and listened.

Duncan couldn't take it anymore and like Gwen, he went to the other exit, but stayed to hear the song and to see Courtney's reaction to Trent's sappy song, which was very beautiful.

_**Now that it's over  
I just wanna hold her  
I'd give up all the world to see  
That little piece of heaven looking back at me  
Now that it's over  
I just wanna hold her  
I've gotta live with the choices I made  
And I can't live with myself today**_

_**Here we are, now you're in my arms  
I never wanted anything so bad  
Here we are, for a brand new start  
Living the life that we could've had **__**Me and Courtney walking hand in hand  
Me and Courtney never wanna end  
Just another moment in your eyes  
I'll see you in another life  
In heaven where we never say goodbye**_

Trent was playing his guitar as he looked at Courtney. The two young lovers were looking at each other's eyes lovingly as if they were lost in complete serenity.

Duncan and Gwen were listening to the song and they couldn't help but relate to it. It was like the song was made for them. Their situation was the same as the song indicated._**  
**__**Now that it's over, I just wanna hold her  
I'd give up all the world to see  
That little piece of Heaven looking back at me  
Now that it's over, I just wanna hold her  
I've gotta live with the choices I made  
And I can't live with myself today**_

_**Me and Courtney walking hand in hand  
Me and Courtney never wanna end  
Just another moment in your eyes  
Ill see you in another life  
In heaven where we never say goodbye**_

The goth and the punk couldn't take it anymore and began to shed some tears at the wonderful memories they had with their exes. The two peeked their heads to see the exes looking at each other dreamily, and it was the same look the two received from them when they were dating. The scene would've been considered beautiful if it wasn't causing them a lot of heartache._**  
Here we are, now you're in my arms  
Here we are for a brand new start  
Got to live with the choices I've made  
And I can't live with myself today  
Me and Courtney walking hand in hand  
Me and Courtney never wanna end  
Got to live with the choices I've made  
And I can't live with myself today**_

Then Trent looked lovingly at Courtney as he faced her and quietly sang the last verse._**  
Hey Courtney, I remember your name**_

Everyone began to cheer as Courtney and Trent kissed. Then the screen appeared and showed the two kissing, which both Duncan and Gwen saw causing more tears to stream down their faces.

"Happy Birthday." Trent said to his girlfriend and Bridgette came with a birthday cake.

"Make a wish!" Bridgette said perkily coming in between them and presented the cake to her brunette friend.

"I wish that Courtney will forgive me." Trent said jokily.

"It's my wish!" Courtney retaliated giggling as she lightly pushed Trent, while smiling at him and blew the candles out.

"_Today was her birthday!?"_ Duncan thought. He never knew that Courtney's birthday was today. Then again he never listens to her that much.

Gwen was looking at them in sorrow. The two laughed and joked which caused the goth to weep some more. She used to have that chemistry with Trent but now those two were truly in love and she could see that.

**After the Party:**

Trent and Courtney were making their way to the musicians room and both were laughing. Unbeknownst to the two that they were being followed by two certain people.

"Wait!" two voices jumped from their hiding place and called out to the two lovers, but then noticed each other.

"What are you doing here!?" the two people looked at each other in shock.

"What are you two doing here?" Trent asked calmly as he saw his rival and his ex-girlfriend snooping on him and his current girlfriend.

"I.. We.. wanted to..." Gwen said nervously trying to find the right words.

"You wanted to know how we hooked up. Right?" Courtney asked fully knowing what their answer would be.

The two nodded at her.

"Okay. After my elimination in World Tour, I was really devastated. More than devastated. I cried for a long time when I was alone... I even got the idea of ending myself." Courtney said the last part quietly and shamefully.

Gwen and Duncan's guilt came crashing back when they heard that Courtney wanted to commit suicide.

"But Trent found out and stopped me... He told me why I should continue to live on. He first told me because it will piss off you two." Courtney said ,while the last part made the two cringe in disdain at the thought of Trent telling that Courtney living on will tick them off. They weren't heartless. "We sat together and talked about many things. About our life back home, our families, our hobbies and we found out how much in common we had, then we kinda went on a date and I liked it. Then we went steady. I even sang with his group, but not in public."

After Courtney finished her story, both Duncan and Gwen had millions of questions flooding in their minds.

"Then why didn't you tell anybody? Why didn't you tell us?" Gwen asked mostly Trent, since she thought that they were still friends.

"Cody, Harold, Justin, Geoff and Bridgette already know that we're together." Trent said nonchalantly.

"Okay... Then what about us!?" Duncan said pointing at himself and Gwen. "Don't we matter to you!?"

"You don't matter to me." Courtney said glaring at her ex. "Especially after what you have done!"

"We didn't want the media to be involved in this and we didn't want them to think that we hooked up just because you two broke it off with us." Trent explained. "Now that the season's over we can actually make our relationship public."

The answer did make a lot of sense to the goth girl and the punk boy, but there were still other questions that still weren't answered.

"Then why did Courtney break up with you recently!? Did you cheat on her!?" Duncan almost yelled, glaring furiously at Trent.

"Actually it was partly my fault... You know the Drama Brothers?" Courtney said truthfully, while receiving nods from the others. "Well a big fan of them came and kissed Trent on screen, which kinda caused some of the other fans to be at an uproar about the "new couple"." Courtney explained. "I thought at first it was a real kiss because he didn't back away from it, but I thought about it and saw that I didn't listen to everything he wanted to say."

"It was my fault. I didn't try to apologize or anything." Trent said guiltily, while Courtney gave him a kiss. "Let's forget about it. I forgive you."

Gwen could relate to that. She remembered back on the island when Heather kissed Trent to make Gwen jealous or just make her miserable. Both dark teens were silent as they didn't know what to say. Both Trent and Courtney just shrugged off the silence and went inside the room and closed the door on them.

Duncan and Gwen went outside to clear their minds... and to absorb what just happened to them. Their exes were in love with each other, but why can't they accept it? And why can't they love each other like Courtney and Trent? There was a long silence as the two teens began to think.

Duncan's thoughts were on Courtney and all the numerous times she drove him crazy. He liked it! The thing he admired most about her was her competitive spirit yet he thinks it's the reason why he doesn't like her anymore.

Gwen was also thinking about her ex's turn offs too. His obsession with her and the number nine really creeped her, but then she saw through them and saw the man Trent was. A kind and loving man that he is.

That song really made them realize what they loved about their ex love and why they loved them so much.

"Sooo... what now?" Duncan said out of the blue trying to break the eerie silence that was killing him. "Should we kiss or something?"

Gwen was nervous. She doesn't know how to answer that question and she felt that Duncan didn't really mean that, but answered it to break the tension. "Okay."

The two came close to each other, but the none of them moved their head to kiss the other. In fact their heads seem to be furthering away from each other.

"_Come on, Duncan!" _the punk said in his head trying to encourage himself to kiss his "girlfriend", and then... _"Courtney!" _ and lowered his head closer to the supposed "Courtney" without doubting himself.

Gwen was having a fight with her thoughts too. She tried to get close to Duncan, but her heart told her "no". _"Gwen! You can do this!"_ she thought then saw a head was getting closer to her face and saw... _"Trent!" _and she got closer to "Trent" who was trying to kiss her!

The two kissed each other while envisioning their old lovers on the other's face! They opened their eyes and quickly backed away from each other as if they were disgusted.

"Sorry!" both said in unison, only to realize there isn't something to be sorry about. Gwen's head hung low as she looked

"What's the problem?" Duncan asked Gwen.

"It's the kiss." Gwen said bluntly.

"Is my breath bad?" Duncan said trying to make a joke, but he knew as much as she that the kiss seemed dull.

"No... It's just.. when you tried to kiss me I saw Trent and not you." Gwen answered truthfully.

Duncan was actually relieved! So it wasn't just him!

"I... saw.. Courtney instead of you." Duncan told the truth.

"The kiss didn't feel good when we found out we were kissing each other. Did it?" Gwen asked.

Duncan was really nervous to say anything! He knew what Gwen said was true. For some reason he couldn't kiss Gwen, but when he saw Courtney he was more than willing to kiss her.

"I have to say.. yes." He answered truthfully, disliking his answer, but hating that he would have to cheat and lie just to get a relationship.

"It's like someone took the air out of our relationship." Gwen said and sat on a rock. "Don't you feel it?".

"Yeah I felt it." The punk said bluntly and sat next to her on another boulder. "I admit that things weren't like they used to, but I wasn't really willing to bring it up at all"

"That's not gonna make it better. There is something missing between us." The goth girl explained.

"I know." The punk boy sighed. "We're not really connecting like we used to. But hey! We still have fun! We hang out and we get to talk to each other."

"Yeah, but where's the heat? Where's the passion we used to have?" Gwen interrupted. "What you're talking about is friendship and it's not romance." She then lowered her head in sadness.

"So what are you saying that we should break up?" Duncan said in insecurity. "That's really scary.. I felt that when I broke up with Courtney."

"I know. I also was scared when I broke it up with Trent. And he was the first guy I ever loved." Gwen said as she got up and her thoughts reverted to her ex-boyfriend. "But we can't stay together just because we're afraid to break up."

"I understand Gwen... If we stayed together we'll still be cheating on each other, but I don't wanna lose us." Duncan said as the thought of breaking up with the second girl he loved was really terrifying him.

"No! We'll never lose us." Gwen said assuring Duncan. "We'll still be friends. We have too much in common to be real lovers. Look at Courtney and Trent! They only have a few similarities and yet they managed to hit it off because they had something to offer to the other." The girl explained with tears forming. "We're friends." She said quietly.

"I hope so. Cause you're the best friend I ever had." Duncan said with tears forming on his eyes too.

The two then came closer to each other and opened their arms to engulf the other in a hug. The hug lasted about 10 seconds then the two stared at each other with awkwardness.

"Did we just break up?" the punk asked.

"I guess so." Gwen said quietly. "What's next?"

"I guess that we go back inside and face everybody then eat cake." Duncan said not knowing what to say, but thought it would be better to make a joke to break the awkward silence.

"Do you think there is any left?" Gwen asked.

"Trust me. Courtney would never let anyone finish her cake unless she takes the last piece" Duncan said smiling as the two went inside to tell everyone what happened and to have a piece of the delicious cake they got for Courtney.

**A/N: This is a VERY long one shot. Isn't it? The song is by Skillet called "Lucy". I'm not sure about the story, but I think it's about a young couple who had an abortion and the felt guilty about it so they took therapy together. The therapist told them to see it as a death of a family member and not abortion. So the couple got a tombstone and named their unborn child Lucy. I for one am against abortion except if it's rape or if the baby is still younger than 4 months. In 4 months it becomes conscious. Just stating my opinion and giving out the name of the song. Even though it's not a romantic love song it does sound like it and I like it. **


End file.
